The key political issue for creators in Canada has been the copyright reform process that has been going on in Canada since 1995.
The Federal Government introduced another bill last spring, but Bill C-32 doesn't include creators' rights clauses that would defend creators from corporate customers, educators and other users of copyright while protecting the public domain. So far, the bill is in committee and has passed second reading but with a majority government in place, it is likely to pass almost unchanged. If we're lucky, the committee will water down the educational exception that will force creators to subsidize classrooms, but we'll probably have to wait until the next revamp to fight for the needs of creators, who will continue to face all-encompassing contracts and exploitation.
I'm very interested in writing stories about democracy, governance, social housing, bureaucracy and how government works.
My motivation stems from the idea that stories about political issues encourage citizenship action, such as voting, attending consultations, participating in referendums, overseeing government action, presenting to committees, participatory budgeting and protesting.
The discussion about citizenship and democracy is becoming particularly heated where I live because of wide-spread protesting. Some political thinkers have asked the government not to give in to the protesters because that would consist of governing via the streets versus making decisions though elected representatives. To me, this seems incredibly simplistic since it presumes that in democracies, voting is the only opportunity for citizens to participate in government. I consider protests to be a good way to encourage government officials to change their minds.